


Better Than Nothing

by Sketchfiend



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Bede Needs a Hug, Bede is an Asshole, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, Gay Rights, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Rivalry, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, There's A Tag For That, Victor Has Two Hands, bede is bad at feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22765597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sketchfiend/pseuds/Sketchfiend
Summary: Bede cannot seem to keep his emotions in check when it comes to Victor, the current Galar League Champion. No matter what he seems to do, he can't stop antagonizing him. Even in the heat of battle, he knows the Champion's thoughts are elsewhere. It's... infuriating.
Relationships: Bede/Victor/Hop, Beet | Bede/Hop, Beet | Bede/Masaru | Victor, Hop/Masaru | Victor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 75





	1. Exhibition Match Number 5

Two years _should_ have been enough for Bede to settle into his new position... and in some ways he had. He was 17 and it no longer felt like the Ballonlea gym trainers were looking over his shoulder at Opal. They met his gaze, took his direction, and treated him as their only Gym Leader. Opal was... still there most days, but in a much more relaxed fashion. Of course in Opal's case, that actually meant _more_ fashion, overall. She didn’t feel like a strict teacher anymore, their relationship had become more warm and familial.

Despite the calm comfort his life in Ballonlea had grown to be, he still had to contend with a lingering reputation. He wanted to be seen as an elegant trainer, a master of his typing, and a formidable opponent. And yet it seemed he could not escape the bitter, angry person that he became during _every single one_ of his battles with the Champion. As it was: 4 exhibition matches, and once in the Champion Tournament finals. 5 battles. 5 losses. This was made all the worse as the crowds and the press seemed to _love_ the spectacle of Bede losing his cool.

This was now exhibition match number 5 and Bede was trying to maintain his composure. He would start as cool and neutral as possible, the perfect picture of a stoic Gym Leader. This was _his_ gym and he could see his gym trainers were in the crowd, his fans holding their signs up high. But the roar of support as Victor entered the stadium and waved to the Rotom Cam, to the stands... made Bede clench his teeth.

"Are you here for a fight or to pose for the cameras?"

"Why not both? Let's get started." Victor shrugged, his tone light and playful.

How was he supposed to stay calm as the Champion tore into his team with so little care? Worse was the smile Victor flashed towards the crowd: Bright as a spotlight, confident, infuriating. How could he not hurl an insult in frustration? And oh, he knew just the words to use, 

"That reject rival of yours isn't in the stands today, Champion. Stop looking like an idiot."

"How about you shut up and lose faster, Bede!" And there it was- a flash of anger and teeth. The sharp focus and clenched fists... it was too easy. He wanted Victor to slip up and give him an opening. Sometimes it even worked. But even if Bede managed to knock out two or three of his pokemon... even if a cutting comment or two had Victor agitated... Victor still took Bede's team down. "You done _already_ , Bede?"

"I'm done looking at _you_ , at least!" Bede snapped, turning his face away. Victor's smirk and the rising noise of the crowd had his pulse racing. Victor stepped forward to shake hands and Bede fought his urge to stomp off. He reminded himself the cameras were still rolling. He was not going to _'cause a scene'_. The handshake was a brief clasping of hands. Victor's smirk widened to a smile,

"Oh, so I _do_ get a handshake this time? How _generous_."

Bede flushed with anger, and bit out a sharp, "Don't push me, _Champion_." as they both moved to exit the stadium. The stress was meant to emphasize Bede's disgust, but it seemed to only spur Victor forward.

"I _am_ Champion... and don't you forget it!"

"How could I? Your stupid face is plastered all over Galar. If I have to see one more tacky commercial with it, I'll be sick." Victor bristled slightly but kept his steady pace. Bede waited for them both to get well out of range of lights and cameras before his next volley, "Does that league dropout _Hop_ have a collection of your shitty ads? he seem like the type-"

"Shut your _fucking_ mouth, Bede!" Victor pushed through into the locker room roughly. A single, startled League staff member was standing around inside. He took one look at the Champion and made a quick move to get out and leave the two competitors alone.

"Oh, was that a little too on the nose, _Champion?_ I know you have a soft spot for low-level trash but-" The rest of the thought was knocked out of him as Victor grabbed a fistful of Bede's uniform and shoved him back against the wall. This was unexpected.

"You keep talking shit about Hop and I _will_ knock your fucking teeth out... I don't care what the press might say." Bede could feel Victor's fist pressing hard against his sternum. Victor was shorter than Bede by a few centimeters and until now Bede had never even considered how strong he might be outside of a pokemon battle. He cast a quick look down to Victor's other hand, tightened into a fist as well. Bede took a sharp breath in, unsure what to say or do. It was in that lingering moment that Victor released his grip, broke his aggressive stance, and took a few steps back.

"So... you want to start throwing punches like some Spikemuth thug now, _Champion?_ " Bede had found his voice again. He was aiming for teasing, although it came out without much confidence. Victor turned away from him completely and went to grab his bag.

"... _No_... You're not actually worth the trouble." Victor threw his bag over his shoulder and moved to the door without making any effort to change out of his uniform.

" _Ugh-_ Fine with me, then. Head back to Postwick and your paper-pushing _failure_ of a rival." Victor glared daggers back at him.

"Hop is a better trainer than you... _and_ a better person." The sentence was pure ice, punctuated by the door closing. Bede was left alone in the change room. He brushed his fingers lightly against the place where Victor's fist had been pressed. It definitely had not been hard enough to bruise but still... he could feel _exactly_ where it had been.

Bede wanted to fight Victor again, and he hated it.


	2. Postwick

Victor forcefully twisted his face into a smile as he exited the change room. Because _of course_ that one staff member was not the only person on the other side of the door. A small volley of camera flashes and questions bombarded him- _'How did you feel about the ma-? Do you have a moment to-? Could you sign my-?'_ He deflected as best he could and struggled to find a way to press through the small crowd that had gathered. He really didn't want to stick around here.

"Sorry, folks! Ah- I really can't- Excuse me! I really do need to head out, now-" a microphone was shoved a little too close to his face-

"Champion Victor! Where are you headed now?!"

"Oh, I-I'm just headed home to Postwick-'' he paused a moment and took the opportunity to take the mic out of the reporter's hands with a gentle pull and cheerily faced the camera directly, "-don't worry, Mum! I'll be home for dinner!~" The playful smile-and-wave had the crowd chuckling as he passed the mic back, turned and waved over his shoulder. He then managed to slip past the bulk of the crowd and carry on at a brisk pace toward the exit. He would have liked to stay long enough to say a proper hello to Opal but... he was sure she would understand.

Victor was in a Flying Taxi almost as soon as he was out the door and he sighed dramatically once he was off the ground. It was times like this Victor really wished he had the height and presence of Leon. He liked the idea of crowds parting for _Champion Victor_ but the reality was that Victor simply couldn’t do it himself, and he didn't want to have to wait around for a squad of League staff to do it for him. On his own, he was just too baby-faced and friendly-looking.

He spent the majority of the flight agitated. _'Head back to Postwick and your paper-pushing failure of a rival.'_ Fucking Bede! Why did he act like such a prick?! What was wrong with him?! He really had wanted to punch him in the mouth, he'd meant what he said! And then Bede had looked so startled, so completely _disarmed_ that it had stopped Victor in his tracks.

As he sat and stewed over it... it seemed like such a stupid thing to do. He felt like a hot-headed idiot for even thinking about ruining his reputation as Champion over Bede. Bede probably would have _loved_ to see him deal with a storm of bad press! Victor could just imagine that smug face he would make! Asshole!

Also... what did he have against _Hop_ , of all people? He could sort of understand Bede being angry at him, since he had won against Bede several times now. But as far as Victor knew, Hop had never battled Bede again after Bede won against him... Did Bede want a rematch with Hop? Maybe he was still angry about being disqualified from the Gym Challenge when Hop had a chance to complete it? Why be mad at _Hop_ about that though? That made no sense! Nothing about Bede's weird aggression made sense, and it was giving him a headache. In a concentrated effort to raise his own spirits, Victor clenched his fists in his lap and imagined how cool Hop would look kicking Bede's ass in a pokemon battle. It was a nice distraction.

There was just enough room in the front garden for the taxi to touch down and let him out. He considered darting over to Wedgehurst first to see Hop at the lab, but there were a few fans standing around outside the front gate. So Victor gave a quick wave in their direction and went inside.

"Welcome home, sweetie-" His mum greeted him with a tight squeeze, "-and thank you! I saw that cute message after your match! Several friends messaged me to say what a _sweet_ boy you are-" Victor pressed an embarrassed face into her shoulder and she gently patted the back of his head, "You know... you can just call me when you're coming home, right?"

"I uh-" Victor had definitely _not_ called or messaged his mum about his spur of the moment decision. His schedule had him in _Wyndon_ for the next few days, so he was supposed to be staying there. But... he had _really_ wanted to be home, "-I just... Sorry, Mum. I'll remember to call next time." She loosened her hug to look at him properly.

"It's not a problem, you can _always_ come home, whenever you like," She punctuated the sentiment with a kiss on his cheek "Now... are you too tired to head to Wedgehurst to pick up a few things for dinner?" 

"No, I don't mind! I can do that!" There must have been something in his face that gave his thoughts away, because his mum grinned and mussed his hair.

" _Oh?_ ...Feel free to invite Hop over, while you're at it!" Victor laughed a little as his mum went over to the kitchen counter. In a minute, she had a short shopping list for him. With a quick glance out the front window she added, "Looks like you've got a few folks waiting around for you... will you be alright?"

"Nothing the Champion can't handle!"

"Well, Mr. _Champion_ , please don't forget to let me know if Hop is coming, I'll need to know how much I'm cooking!" Victor nodded as he darted out the front door. Propelling himself forward with purpose, he managed to hurry politely past the people standing around outside the gate and make it to Wedgehurst without getting stopped for small talk. The lab was in sight and that was right where he wanted to be. When he stepped in, he could already see Sonia selecting an armful of books on the upper floor.

"Helloooo!" Victor called out, breaking the near silence of the lab. Yamper gave a short friendly bark and scampered over.

"Victor!" There was the scrape of a chair as Hop quickly got up from his desk to meet him. He was hit with a solid embrace that pulled him a bit off balance, but Victor was glad for it.

"Hey Hop..." Victor managed softly, pressing his cheek against Hop's. The moment was too short however, as he was pushed back to an arm's length away.

"Now hold up mate, _hold up,_ are you _still wearing your Champion kit?!_ I thought you hated wearing this outside of the stadium!" Victor fidgeted slightly, his shoulders grasped in Hop's hands. He was suddenly very aware and faintly embarrassed- yet another thing he'd forgotten in his rush back to Postwick, "What, did you run here straight from Ballonlea?"

"I stopped at home first!"

"And you didn't change? Did you miss me _that much_ _?"_ Hop laughed.

_"Yes."_ Victor couldn't be bothered to play cool and pulled Hop close to him again. He rested his chin on Hop’s shoulder and held tight to the back of Hop’s lab coat. Hop stuttered,

"W-well... alright. I mean, I missed you too! G-good job on your match today..."

"Oh, stop being _cute_ you two! There's still work to do, you know!" Sonia huffed as she came up to them. Victor reluctantly pulled himself away from Hop to talk to Sonia.

"How's research going Sonia? I heard there was a new archaeology dig started in Stow-on-Side."

"Oh, yes! It's looking very promising! A lot of the new Stow-on-Side finds so far have been fairly small object fragments. Not too scattered either, so they may be able to piece some together. It would be great if they found something more complete though."

"That's interesting. Then I guess you two are going through other materials at the moment?" Victor glanced from Sonia back to Hop and caught a brief, pained look-

"Mate, you have _no idea_..." Hop gestured wearily towards his desk and the tower of hefty-looking books stacked there, " I'm sorting my way through old research that hasn't been digitized... some of it could be useful but it's so boring..."

"Hey! Every day can't be Raid Dens and Dynamaxing! The paperwork has to get done too!" Sonia swatted Hop's shoulder.

"I know, I know..."

"If it makes you feel any better, I thought being Champion would involve way more Dynamaxing... but half of the time I'm just making an appearance somewhere and doing a lot of standing around." Hop rolled his eyes at Victor,

"Oh yeah, such a rough life, being Champion." Hop threw an arm over Victor's shoulder, patting him with mock sympathy, "You're still getting in way more battles than me."

"Yeah, I guess," Victor agreed, "but I still think I'd rather be _here_ more." Hop looked away from him, clearly flustered. Sonia just sighed,

"We'd never get anything done around here with you distracting Hop every day." She shook her head. Victor looked at her hopefully,

"Sonia... is it okay if I borrow Hop for the rest of the afternoon? _Please?_ I have to pick up groceries and Mum invited Hop for dinner."

"Oh, _your mum_ invited him, hm?" Sonia teased.

"I mean- I wanted to- uh, she said it was okay-" Victor stammered.

"What, and no dinner invite for _me?_ That's rude." Sonia gave Victor a hard look before laughing at Victor's tense face, "I'm just joking. I've already got dinner plans in Hulberry. Go ahead and take him... But! I don't want you making a habit of stealing my assistant away from work, _Champion_." She pointed an accusing finger at Victor.

"Yesssss! Lemme grab my bag!" Hop threw his arms up and darted back to his desk, making a show of throwing off his lab coat dramatically, while Victor chuckled.

"I'm not making any promises, Sonia.... But thanks." Sonia winked and turned back towards her own pile of work as the two of them headed for the door. Yamper followed happily at her heels.

"Have a nice dinner, you two!" She called over her shoulder.

"Same to you! Say hi to Nessa for me!" Victor added just before he shut the door. Hop grinned at him and tossed out a pokeball. Dubwool popped out with a few happy bleats and trotted in a tight circle around Hop's legs.

"You'd think I never let you out!" Hop patted Dubwool's soft face as the pokemon nudged insistently at his hip, "I swear... he was just rolling around the lab this morning, making a right mess!" Victor reached over to sink both his hands into Dubwool’s orb of dense fluff while Hop spoke, "I'm only bringing Rillaboom along tomorrow, you troublemaker! He doesn't tackle things when he's bored!" Dubwool bleated again, butting his horns against Hop, " _Hey!_ Easy there!"

"Ahhh, I really should let the whole team out once we're back with the groceries," Victor sighed softly, "They didn't get a chance after the match."

"They didn't?" Hop's face shifted abruptly to confusion, "That isn't like you... What’s got you feeling this off today?"

"I... it's... can we talk about it after dinner?" Victor didn't want to get into it now. He didn’t want to bring up Bede, worried that he would ruin Hop’s good mood. Hop frowned a bit, but nodded,

"...Yeah, alright. Let's get going then!" Hop started walking and Victor stood still for a few moments longer. There was a warm comfort in the sight of Hop turning to look over his shoulder with a smile, "Come on, Victor!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So… this chapter got away from me a bit. Next chapter, we're going back to check on Bede... where I'm sure everything is fine :) Thank you for the comments and kudos! I really appreciate it! ;_;

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I played my main character as very in-love with Hop and completely happy to kick Bede's smug ass... no sympathy at all! So Bede and Victor are angry gay teens with strong emotions who need to sort their shit out.


End file.
